Employers of Foreign Workers Should Use New I-9

New Form I-9

Changes to the I-9:

Form I-9 is now two pages

Expanded instructions

New fields for e-mail address, phone number and foreign passport in Section 1

On March 8, 2013, USCIS released a new Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9. Employers should begin using the new Form I-9 with revision date 03/08/13 immediately for all new hires. The revision date is on the lower left of the new form (Rev. 03/08/13)N. Employers may continue to use previously valid Forms I-9 (Rev. 08/07/09Y and 02/02/09N) for 60 calendar days. Beginning May 7, 2013, employers must only use the new Form I-9 (Rev. 03/08/13)N. In the cases of reverification or rehires the new version of the Form I-9 (Rev. 03/08/13)N must be used. For more information, please refer to the Federal Registernotice. You may obtain the new Form I-9 (Rev.03/08/13)N by visiting I-9 Central or the USCIS website.

Form I-9 is used for verifying the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. All U.S. employers must ensure proper completion of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens. Both employees and employers (or authorized representatives of the employer) must complete the form. On the form, an employee must attest to his or her employment authorization. The employee must also present his or her employer with acceptable documents evidencing identity and employment authorization. The employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) an employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and to relate to the employee and record the document information on the Form I-9. The list of acceptable documents can be found on the last page of the form. Employers must retain Form I-9 for a designated period and make it available for inspection by authorized government officers. NOTE: State agencies may use Form I-9. Also, some agricultural recruiters and referrers for a fee may be required to use Form I-9.

Do not file Form I-9 with USCIS or U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Employers must have a completed Form I-9 on file for each person on their payroll who is required to complete the form. Form I-9 must be retained and stored by the employer either for three years after the date of hire or for one year after employment is terminated, whichever is later. The form must be available for inspection by authorized U.S. Government officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Labor, or Department of Justice.